JEWISH VOLUNTEER CENTER (JVC) RECEIVES $2.5 MILLION GIFT FROM SIDNEY KOHL FAMILY
JVC, which brings together people of all backgrounds for community service projects, is now renamed the Dorothy & Sidney Kohl Jewish Volunteer Center (Kohl JVC).
Now in its 8th year helping thousands of people in need throughout the Palm Beaches, Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County’s Jewish Volunteer Center (JVC) has received an astounding $2.5 million gift from the Sidney Kohl Family that will significantly amplify and sustain its work forever. To honor this remarkable contribution, the center is renamed the Dorothy & Sidney Kohl Jewish Volunteer Center (Kohl JVC). The gift was announced on May 11, 2023, at Federation’s Annual Meeting.
With historic population growth in the local community, the Kohl JVC’s role has quickly expanded in recent years to help meet emerging community needs currently outpacing available programs and services. Since its inception, Kohl JVC’s projects have helped nearly 100,000 local community members in need thanks to more than 5,000 annual volunteers of all ages, faiths and backgrounds.
In addition to ongoing efforts to pack and distribute meals, support literacy in local schools, and connect volunteers with local organizations, Kohl JVC leads a series of community-wide signature programs – including Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Day of Service, Good Deeds Day, and 8 Days, 8 Ways of Giving Back.
From fall 2022 to spring 2023, Kohl JVC service projects provided 70,000 meals to local people in need; contributed 4,300 books and assisted in packing 17,000 backpacks with supplies to students at Palm Beach County Title I schools; and packed and donated 4,500 Dignity Grows toiletry kits to community members in need.
Jewish Federation created the Kohl JVC in 2015. The Kohls’ granddaughter and a Federation Executive Committee member, Juliana Gendelman of Palm Beach, had a pivotal role in its establishment, and served as its second Chair. She served five years in that role, and also helped found its MLK Day of Service. Gendelman regularly volunteers with her husband, Christopher Goldberg, and their daughter, at Kohl JVC service projects. There are four generations of the Kohl family living in Palm Beach, including Sidney and Dorothy’s oldest daughter, Lori, and her husband, Bruce Gendelman.
The Kohls’ transformative gift serves as a nucleus commitment to Campaign for the Future, the largest fundraising campaign in Jewish Palm Beach’s history. This comprehensive fundraising campaign seeks to grow annual fundraising, increase the number of multi-year pledges, and create new endowments to meet the needs of our growing community – Today, Tomorrow, and Forever. The campaign integrates many forms of giving, including the Annual Campaign and Targeted Giving – both to support our community’s short-term needs of Today and Tomorrow, and long-term needs through endowments at Federation’s William A. Meyer Jewish Community Foundation.
To discuss your involvement in this bold effort, contact your Federation representative or Matt Kernkraut, Chief Development Officer, at 561.242.6640 or matthew.kernkraut@jewishpalmbeach.org.
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About the Sidney Kohl Family
The Sidney Kohl Family has a record of supporting organizations tied to education, the arts and Jewish philanthropy. Sidney’s father, Max, an immigrant, started a family business in Milwaukee with a small corner grocery store in 1929. Sidney along with his brothers and father grew the company to be a chain of 70 supermarkets and then started a nationwide chain of department stores. He and his wife Dorothy raised their children in Milwaukee. They moved to Florida in 1979, where Sidney continued to be a successful real estate developer and investor.
Sidney, a Harvard Law School graduate, served as Chairman of Good Samaritan Medical Center, and he has also served as Chairman of Palm Beach United Way and sat on the boards of the Kravis Center and Norton Museum as well as public companies.
Dorothy, a lifelong competitive athlete, was ranked one of the country’s best tennis players in the 1950’s. She was also inducted into the U.S. Tennis Association USTA Midwest Hall of Fame.
